Australia stun England with last-gasp try in Twickenham thriller

Max Jorgensen scored a dramatic late try to give Australia a narrow victory over England at Twickenham

Max Jorgensen’s last-gasp try secured Australia a dramatic 42-37 victory over England after a remarkable contest at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.

Chandler Cunningham-South scored twice in the first 12 minutes for England, who moved into a 12-point advantage before Australia hit back through Tom Wright and Harry Wilson.

Noah Lolesio’s penalty on the stroke of half-time saw Australia take a 20-18 lead into the break and they briefly moved 10 ahead after Jeremy Williams’ early try, only for England to hit back with a brilliant double from replacement Ollie Sleightholme.

England’s Ollie Sleightholme helped spark a second-half fightback

Andrew Kellaway’s breakaway try for the visitors was cancelled out when Mario Itoje scored late on for England, which Marcus Smith converted to give the hosts a slender lead, only for Jorgensen to finish a wonderful passing move and complete an incredible win.

It’s the fourth time in the last five games that Steve Borthwick’s side have lost from a winning position in the final quarter, while Australia’s victory ends a run of three straight losses and is just their second win in 12 matches over England.

It’s the fourth time in the last five games that Steve Borthwick’s side have lost from a winning position in the final quarter, while Australia’s victory ends a run of three straight losses and is just their second win in 12 matches over England.

Australia stun England in Twickenham thriller

England, unchanged from last week’s heartbreaking loss to New Zealand but with Henry Slade starting at inside centre and Ollie Lawrence at 13, made a strong start when great hands resulted in Cunningham-South going over in the fourth minute.

Chandler Cunningham-South (left) celebrates with his fellow back-rowers after opening the scoring

Smith missed the conversion and England saw their lead reduced when Lolesio kicked a long-range penalty, only for quick thinking in the 12th minute seeing the hosts increase their advantage when Cunningham-South scored from close range and Smith converted.

Australia found themselves 12 behind after Smith’s penalty in the 19th minute but grew into the contest, with debutant Joseph Suaalii impressing to make space for Wright to carve his way into the corner to score.

Smith added another penalty on the half-hour mark but watched as Australia battled back, with Tate McDermott bursting through to set up captain Wilson’s try and Lolesio following his successful conversion by kicking over a penalty with the final play of a remarkable 40 minutes.

The visitors continued to impress and increased their lead when Williams went over in the corner in the 49th minute, with the TMO adjudging his foot to have been in play when grounding the ball, with Lolesio’s latest penalty giving them a 10-point buffer with 25 minutes to play.

Australia’s lock Jeremy Williams was among the try scorers for the Wallabies

Smith’s deft kick through two Australian defenders gave Sleightholme room to score and begin the latest comeback on 59 minutes, before Sleightholme combined with Alex Dombrandt and Harry Randall to score in the corner in the 68th minute – converted by Smith – to move England ahead.

A topsy-turvy contest moved back into Australia’s favour when Kellaway burst through from the halfway line and dived over, converted by Ben Donaldson, although Itoje appeared to snatch it at the death when his converted try edged England back in front with less than a minute on the clock.

England knocked the ball on at the restart to give the Wallabies a final chance as the clock passed 80 minutes, with patience rewarded when Jorgensen ran onto Len Ikitau’s offload and burst forward 40 yards to dive over in the left corner and seal a memorable win.

Max Jorgensen’s late try sparked wild celebrations from this Australian teammates

George: We took our foot off the gas

England captain Jamie George told TNT Sports:

“The blueprint of how we wanted to play was in the first 20 minutes of the game. We put Australia under a lot of pressure.

“Sometimes in a Test match like that, you think the job is done. We took our foot off the gas. You’ve got to give credit to Australia. They were very good tonight…but leaking 42 points at home is unacceptable.

“We can’t keep doing that. And it will be a tough one to watch back.”

What’s next?

England will look to return to winning ways and claim their first win of the autumn on November 16 when they face world champions South Africa at the Allianz Stadium (5.40pm), while Australia face Wales at the Principality Stadium on November 17 (4.10pm).